Wisdom is a Great Good

WISDOM IS A GREAT GOOD

God has declared, Wisdom is a great good;
wherever you may see this good, seize it.
Science gives pinions to words and sounds,
bestows purest substance on things without substance;
science finds a way even to heaven’s zenith
to pluck the sight out of the sun’s own eye.
Its transcript is the commentary of the cosmos,
the fate of the cosmos hangs upon its determining;
it says to the desert, ‘Bubble up!’ and it bubbles,
to the sea, ‘Produce a mirage!’ and it produces it.
Its eye beholds all the events in creation
that it may see the sure foundations of creation;
if it attaches its heart to God, it is prophecy,
but if it is a stranger to God, it is unbelief.
Science without the heart’s glow is pure evil,
for then its light is darkness over sea and land,
its rouge renders the whole world black and blind,
its springtide scatters the leaves of all being,
sea, plain and mountain, quiet garden and villa
are ravaged by the bombs of its aeroplanes.
It is its fire that burns the heart of Europe,
from it springs the joy of raiding and robbing;
it turns topsy-turvy the course of the days,
despoils the peoples of their capital.
Its power becomes the faithful ally of Satan;
light becomes fire by association with fire.
To slay Satan is indeed a difficult task,
since he is hidden within the depths of the heart;
better is it to make him a true Mussulman,
better to smite him dead with the sword of the Koran.
God save us from majesty that is without beauty,
God save us from separation without union!
Science without love is a demonic thing,
science together with love is a thing divine;
science and wisdom without love are a corpse,
reason is an arrow that never pierced the target.
With the vision of God make the blind to see,
convert Abu Lahab into an impetuous Haidar! - Iqbal, Javed Nama